Thankful

Thank you so much for your sweet comments about Fletch's passing.

The kids are doing better. Rob and the kids made a cross to put up in the yard to remember him by.

I am adjusting slowly.

After thirteen years of letting the dog out one last time before going to bed or leaving the house, I'm having to make new routines.

The kids had a picnic on the floor of the sun room over the weekend. They'd never been able to do that because the dog would steal their food.

We can all run through the house now (well, I don't condone this, but at least Fletch won't start barking and join in the chase).

I still expect to see him lying on the floor as we watch TV in the evening; I swear I hear him making his "old dog" noises while I sleep. As I said, I'm adjusting slowly.

Some pictures and a few words

One of the "advantages" of having a geriatric dog is that I find myself up at all hours to let him out. Because of our midnight trips outside, I've been able to track the Big Dipper's progress across the sky over the summer. Seeing a sky full of stars really is breathtaking, and it eases (ever so slightly) the pain of being out of bed. A couple of days ago, I let the dog out just as the sun was coming up.
I know it's just a sliver of sunrise caught between two houses, but it was quite spectacular! And that was an awful lot of words--let me be more concise for the remaining pictures...

Mama's new sweater.

Mama's weekly trip to the library.

Our new buddy.

I reminded him that it is autumn now, and that he'd better go join the ants in preparing for winter!